Starting a fresh chapter in a long-running video game series must be a daunting endeavor for a developer. How do you follow up 20 years of worldbuilding and deeply intertwined stories with a new setting and cast? It’s a tough question that The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak answers confidently, kicking off an exciting new arc that both newcomers and veterans can equally enjoy after 2023’s The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie brought the series’ previous saga to a satisfying conclusion. With an updated combat system that fuses turn-based battles with some new real-time elements, an engaging story, and a charming cast of characters, Trails through Daybreak shines as yet another great RPG in a year packed full of them.
Daybreak follows a mercenary named Van Akride who finds himself on a grand adventure that’s noticeably darker in tone than previous Trails arcs. He takes on the dirty jobs local law enforcement aren’t able to handle, and sometimes even work from underground organizations – things like negotiating deals with shady middlemen or hunting bounties. That’s a welcome change from the series’ past protagonists, who have tended to be a bit unrealistically altruistic.
The story itself effortlessly weaves topical themes into your actions, with shadowy figures taking advantage of anti-immigrant sentiment to gain power and the meteoric rise of a new mafia group threatening the status quo of the underground world. These themes aren’t entirely apparent early on in Van’s journey, but he eventually starts to realize just how much influence the different factions of this world have, making Daybreak feel more like an engrossing political drama the deeper you go.
This is a great jumping in point for the Trails series, free from the shackles of having to directly connect to previous games, but Daybreak does also treat longtime fans like myself by incorporating lore from them when it suits the story. For example, it takes place in the Republic of Calvard, a place
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